The number of homes changing hands fell even further with a nearly nine per cent drop from April to May, and an almost 22 per cent decline below the record May set last year. The association added that these losses came on top of an even larger drop recorded in April.
“Ultimately this has been expected and forecast for some time — a slowdown to more normal levels of sales activity and a flattening out of prices,” said CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart in a press release accompanying the data. “What is surprising is how fast we got here. With the now very steep expected pace of Bank of Canada rate hikes, and fixed
getting way out in front of those, instead of playing out steadily over two years, that cooling off of sales and prices seems to have mostly played out over the last two months.”Article content CREA chair Jill Oudil echoed these thoughts, adding that inventories are finally beginning to rebuild from their record lows, though she expects supply shortages to persist.
“May picked up where April left off, with sales activity continuing to slow and softening prices in many parts of the country,” Oudil said. “With all that being said, we are in a period of rapid change, but one that should settle to a more balanced housing market in time.”
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financialpost You’ll own nothing and be happy. Words from TJ’s leadership from the WEF